If your organization has launched or is considering launching a membership program, doing so can provide various benefits, from adding a sustainable revenue stream to your strategy to creating a loyal community of support for your cause. This is true whether your organization is a professional association that thrives on memberships or a nonprofit that’s offering membership as one of many supporter engagement methods that contribute to your overarching goals.

After creating your membership program, your next priority should be designing your member engagement strategy. As Clowder’s member engagement guide explains, “When members are effectively engaged, they feel connected to your association and get the sense that their membership is a worthwhile ongoing investment.” However, the article goes on to say, “Different members may want to be involved with your organization in different ways and at different levels, and adapting to their preferences will lead to greater satisfaction overall.”

Let’s discuss a few tips for developing a member engagement strategy that aligns with your members’ needs, interests, and goals.

Map the Member Journey

You’ve probably heard of the donor journey or lifecycle, which describes the process of a donor engaging with your nonprofit and increasing their support over time. The member journey is similar, but it’s more focused on members’ actions than your organization’s (whereas the donor journey goes both ways).

Here is a quick overview of the basic stages of the member journey:

  • Interest: Essentially stage zero, individuals in this phase are considering becoming members (e.g., by contacting you with questions about membership or attending an association event that’s open to non-members) but haven’t joined yet.
  • Acquisition: This step starts when members first join your program and extends through when they begin to find their footing and learn about everything membership at your organization has to offer.
  • Engagement: At this stage, members start to take advantage of benefits like exclusive events, online courses, discounts, and communications, meaning they see the value of membership firsthand.
  • Retention: Members move into this phase once they decide to renew their membership for a second year, and it continues as they maintain their involvement long-term.
  • Advocacy: Not all members reach this stage, but those who do essentially become superfans of your organization and its program, leading them to upgrade to a higher membership tier, encourage non-members to join, or take on leadership roles.

Once you outline this framework, identify key touchpoints for members at each stage. For example, you might send a welcome email series to members you’ve just acquired to introduce them to your program and renewal reminder messages to engaged members so you can retain their support.

Segment Your Member Base

Like with engaging the rest of your audience, a one-size-fits-all approach to member engagement doesn’t tend to be effective. Instead, get to know your members’ varied needs and goals by segmenting them, or grouping them based on shared characteristics. That way, you can develop tailored communications and engagement opportunities for each segment.

Try segmenting members according to:

  • Demographics such as age, location, education, family status, and income.
  • Psychographics like interests, values, lifestyles, and motivations for membership.
  • Membership tiers (if your program has multiple levels) and stages in the member journey.
  • Engagement history, including responses to communications, event attendance, participation in professional development if you offer it, and other types of involvement

In your organization’s member engagement software, create an individual profile for each member and use the platform’s tagging or communication list-building features to track which segments they belong to. These tools will help you get all of your messages in front of the right audiences.

Offer Various Ways to Engage

Membership programs’ core benefits generally vary by organization type. Many associations prioritize member events (conferences, webinars, etc.) and professional development opportunities due to their focus on a specific industry or field of work. By contrast, nonprofit membership benefits often differ by vertical—some organizations may provide merchandise discounts or early fundraising event registration, while others might offer mission-specific perks, such as free admission to a museum or exclusive wellness programs at a community rec center.

One effective but often overlooked category of member benefits that both associations and nonprofits can incorporate into their programs is communication. To tap into this opportunity, test a combination of top-down and peer-to-peer engagement tactics, such as:

  • Sending out recurring newsletters to different member segments to update them on happenings at your organization and in the community (e.g., job openings in your association members’ field or legislation related to your nonprofit’s mission).
  • Asking for feedback by sending out periodic surveys about members’ experiences and scheduling one-on-one meetings with members at the advocacy phase of their journey and those at risk of lapsing.
  • Setting up discussion forums where members can exchange ideas and answer each other’s questions about industry- or cause-related topics—with clear guidelines and moderation to keep the discussion focused and civil, of course.
  • Encouraging one-to-one communication so members can network with others who share similar interests (for instance, a younger association member might discuss career pathing with a seasoned professional in that field, or a nonprofit member interested in volunteering could talk to other members who have volunteered in different roles).

Pro tip: Especially if you want to implement peer-to-peer strategies, investing in a mobile engagement app designed for your organization type (association or nonprofit) will provide a convenient, accessible, and secure channel to centralize your member communications.

Track Member Engagement Metrics

To understand whether your member engagement strategy is working, data analytics will be your best friend. Some metrics you might track include:

  • Member acquisition rate (i.e., the number of new members joining)
  • Member retention year-over-year, or membership renewal rate
  • Member upgrade rate (i.e., how many members are moving from lower to higher membership tiers each year)
  • Interactions with membership marketing materials (social media posts, digital ads, website content, etc.)
  • Participation in engagement methods (e.g., event attendance, discount usage, or forum posts)
  • Member satisfaction as indicated via feedback vehicles

Although these data points are important for gauging member engagement, remember that they don’t exist in a vacuum. For associations, Strategic Association Solutions recommends considering member engagement as one part of your overarching strategy, along with general marketing, administrative activities, financial management, and (most importantly) mission fulfillment.

For nonprofits, membership should be one of the many ways supporters can get involved in your work, along with donating, volunteering, attending events, and other activities. Supporter engagement and fundraising also need to work alongside service delivery and operations to further your mission. So, as you track the above metrics, remember to consider their larger context and make decisions accordingly.

While the tips above are just a few of the possible tactics you could incorporate into your association’s or nonprofit’s member engagement strategy, they should provide a solid foundation for cultivating member relationships. Combined with the right tools and a plan adapted to your unique member base, you’ll be well on your way to a thriving membership program!